David Lee Martin

Continuing this series on slowing down, simplifying, and finding creative grace to produce without sweat, I offer you five more insights from the first chapter of Genesis.

Do feel free to post your own insights, thoughts, and responses in the comments. I’d love to hear your thinking around this subject…

1. After His Kind

“And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.” (Genesis 1:11 KJV)

The plan of God is that all He created capable of reproduction produce after it’s kind.

To live a prosperous, peaceful life of gracious contribution, we cannot spend our efforts trying to be something or someone we are not.

If God made you to bear apples, bear the best apples you can produce. Don’t envy the orange tree person because their fruits are more colourful or juicy.

Tiresome pursuit of something unattainable, in this case, being someone God never designed you to be, is a deep-rooted discontent that many waste their lives chasing.

Instead of looking inwardly, spending efforts to discover who they themselves are, what ‘kind’ God created them to be, they look outward at the forest, envious of other trees, herbs, and grasses.

You are one of kind!

No one else can take your place, and if you don’t become unashamedly yourself, no one else can.

2. Seasons

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” (Genesis 1:14 KJV)

Life is seasonal like the rhythms God put in motion when He made the worlds. Knowing what season you are in will help you navigate with grace and humility.

Some seasons are more strenuous than others, but when we yield to the hand of God shaping or sharpening our character through each one, we are well prepared for the next. Fighting against the season’s flow will tire you out. Finding grace and proper pace with God’s purpose in a season, even if strenuous, removes the friction that so often exhausts us through the process.

In every season, right down to moment by moment seasons, days, months, and years, there is something magnificent to discover in God. Being aware of His immediate presence, and His greater plans that span decades or more gives grace to our heart to walk in peaceful pace with Him in big and small.

Don’t be quick to judge His methods. He sees the end from the beginning, and what seems contrary right may well be the very circumstances He uses to form your future successes.

No rush or hurry is required if we trust in God’s provision for the season we are in.

Learn your lessons well, and be ready to let go graciously when one season comes to an end and a new one begins. Each has its own special riches to bestow.

3. Greater and Lesser Lights

“And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.” (Genesis 1:16 KJV)

Greater lights. Lesser lights. And the stars also.

“And God set them … to give light upon the earth, … and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:17–18 KJV)

Comparison is not the way to peace!

Greater lights, lesser lights, stars also. Some big, some small, but all with the same glorious commission; to give light to the earth, and divide the light from the dark.

Shine your light unashamedly in the very best ways you know how. Don’t allow your sense of worth to be eclipsed by the sun of someone else’s genius.

God has commissioned you to fulfil His mandate and assignment, and it is good! You will not be judged on the light He commanded another to bring, He will require account only for your own stewardship of the gifts he chose to entrust into your keeping.

Don’t feel lesser. Don’t consider yourself greater. The sun does not shine with self-conscious rays, it simply fulfils its nature. The moon does not reflect with straining jealousy, it rejoices in the sky showing forth an unparalleled beauty.

Be who you are, and settle into your orbit around the purposes of God with wholehearted commitment.

4. Blessed

“And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.” (Genesis 1:22 KJV)

Fruitfulness and multiplication flow from blessing.

Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and the things that the world is seeking by sweat will be added by grace to your account.

No greater love or beauty exists than the wonderful presence of God in our lives.

Don’t multiply your efforts and then ask for His blessing on your own makings.

Seek His blessing first, the blessing of divine counsel, wisdom from His heart, and compassion for your fellow pilgrims, and from that place of grace and fullness go forth and multiply.

5. In His Image

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26 KJV)

God is not in hurry.

God is not nervous, anxious, fearful, or insecure.

God is creative, playful, holy, and whole in Himself. Fully immersed in His perfect plans for humanity, He pours Himself out in endless abundance for the betterment of His creation.

You are like your Maker.

In His image. After His likeness.

A miracle made to make!

Just as He brought forth wonders from His heart so will you. It’s your nature to produce.

The invisible is made visible through your intervention.

You are a conduit, and through the faith alive in your heart, hopes become substance and are shared with the world.

Such is your DNA. Creative fruitfulness is your default. Greatness and beauty flow from your inner man with effortless intention, because you live from who you are – a child of the great Creator Himself!

I have no monumental story to tell.

No brag to share about my previous breakneck life of speed and greed.

No dramatic turnaround that transformed a speedaholic into an unhurried worshipper.

I’m just a believer with a deep desire to know God, who realized that fast doesn’t work.

Here are some slow thoughts about an unhurried life of worship from the first verses of Genesis…

1.

“In the beginning God…” (Genesis 1:1)

Everything begins and ends with God. He comprehends all things in Himself, and nothing is outside His knowledge or control. Time has a beginning and an end. God does not.

Unhurried life sits securely in this reality. When you step into the place of prayer and sense His presence you step outside of time.

Prayer is where we meet with the One who inhabits eternity, and where we get a perspective less pressured by the passing moments slipping fast through our fingers.

“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” (Isaiah 57:15 KJV)

2.

“In the beginning God…”

God created. We know that. But the who came before the do. Before any action, before any other thing, He is.

The same is true for you. Who before do.

You are not measured by your production or usefulness, and the impactful contribution you are called to bring to the world will flow from who you are on the inside. Issues of life flow from the heart, and the more connected you become to your accepted and loved identity in Christ the more freely that wonderful value you produce will flow out and change lives.

3.

“In the beginning God created” (Genesis 1:1 KJV)

God’s first introduction to us is as Creator. He is a Maker and wonderfully inventive in every way. A creative and productive life is natural and normal for the children of God. It is not something you have to work up or strain to become. You are creative, made in the beautiful image and likeness of the One who created you.

Living a creatively fruitful life is the overflow of the connection you have with God.

A tree doesn’t strain to produce the fruit it was designed to bless the world with and nor should we. Let you heart root deep into God’s faithfulness and His personality and vibrant, untamed wonder will flow from your heart in most surprising ways.

4.

“And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2 KJV)

In a society hell-bent on faster, bigger, cheaper, the idea that something is not shiny and slick is frowned upon.

Sometimes life feels less than slick. Without form and void is a dark place to be if you don’t remember that God moves even when the lights are out.

Don’t be in a hurry to run from searching seasons where your life feels without form.

Hidden inside what looks like formless clay to an untrained eye, the Sculptor sees a masterpiece.

You are His masterpiece, and even through dark seasons of soul searching the Holy Spirit is moving.

5.

“And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2 KJV)

The word used for Spirt here in the first verses of our epic adventure into the mind and heart of God is ‘ruah’ translated in some instances as ‘breath.’ The breath of God moved on the face of the waters. He breathes upon our darkness!

God’s breath is life-giving and creative by nature.

Maybe if we take His lead and breathe more we would see better results than our breathless striving.

Taking a breath to remember that God is with you, and in you, will keep you stayed on the truth that nothing is impossible. Even in the midst of seeming chaos the Spirit is breathing.

So can you. Slow down. Take a breath. And remember.

6.

“And the evening and the morning were the first day.” (Genesis 1:5 KJV)

There was a rhythm to Papa’s creative work.

There is no sense of rush in the beautiful account we have of His handiwork.

Evening, morning. The first day.

Evening, morning. The second day.

He then adds a second beat the rhythm.

“… and God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:12 KJV)

Evening, morning. The third day.

“and God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:18 KJV)

Right the way through to a crowning chorus of creations song:

“And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:31 KJV)

An unhurried rhythm of creation, followed by appreciation.

Selah.

So I’m sat in local pub here in the small village of Hurst where I live writing a book about commitment to God’s purpose and prayer. In walk some shiny looking individuals, young and vibrant, and order bottles of wine and a slap up lunch. Friends soon spontaneously join them and the mirth ensues.

So does that creeping discontent and disconnect from the rich life I’m learning to live in Christ and the siren call back down to earth. Ballast bags of envy have a horrible habit of dragging us along the ground looking at the seeming prosperity others enjoy and the ease with which they conduct their existence.

It’s odd and can catch us unawares.

Why climb in the confessional like this?

Because jealously is the stock in trade of the world we now inhabit.

Not only are the bright-and-brilliant paraded as the mark to shoot for, but the grim rubbing of normal noses in their apparent mediocrity is also skilfully leveraged to motivate thoughts and actions we would never otherwise consider.

Our Father laid out only ten explicit commandments worthy of etching in stone, and one of them slammed this tendency head-on!

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” (Exodus 20:17 NKJV)

Dude? Why would I want another donkey? I have so many donkey’s piled up in my own life already. So many blessings to thank God for it’s almost criminal when contrasted to the terrors some on the earth are facing every day.

What is it about human nature that tends so heavily to discontent and fails to appreciate the real riches that no money can buy?

I’m learning to be thankful for the Holy Ghost spotlight shining on the cracks in my character and pulling the pus to the surface. Sounds horrible I know, and quite honestly it is. But, as my mum so sagely says, “better out than in.”

Pondering this quizzical comparison game I find myself caught in sometimes I brought the above story to the table of prayer, looking for a remedy.

The picture I saw was of a man, a glass man being filled with water. The sediment that had settled in his stationary life was being pushed up and out the fuller he became.

“My love casts out fear,” explained the Holy Ghost.

The answer is not to perform an internal witch-hunt for all of those less than sanctified areas that drag our buoyant spirits down, it is to be filled to overflowing with the presence of the real treasure – God’s presence.

How beautiful to rise above the froth, bubble, and swirling confusions of the lower life, and sit to get perspective in the presence of the one who is high and lifted up. Worship lifts us above the fray and clears our vision to see.

One of my favorite Psalms is Asaph’s wonderfully vulnerable petition in Psalm 73:

“Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked… Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.” (Psalm 73:1–20 KJV)

In no way do I want to imply that prosperity is for the wicked alone. God prospers His people and takes great delight in doing so. But the narrow eyes of envy can afflict even those who are part of the few percenters on the planet who have an over abundance. I dare that includes both the one writing this, and most likely the one reading.

The point I want to make is this. Just one word…

“Until.”

Until I went into the sanctuary.

How profound these words.

Perspectives change in the sanctuary. Eye salve is copiously dispensed in the secret place.

Instead of looking with envious eyes craving another ass to add to our crowded stable, we get caught by the beauty of the King.

“Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.” (Isaiah 33:17 KJV)

There is land very close, stuffed and pushed to our eyes and ears begging our attention. A land so immediate, full of empty glamour and passing riches.

And there is a land very far off, flowing with milk and honey, whose trees heal the nations, and whose sidewalks are paved with finest gold.

All of the false glamour of this present age cannot shake a stick at the riches that Christ Jesus so freely offers. But we need to make regular visits to the sanctuary to keep the pipes clean and our eyes on eternity.

You can keep your donkey.

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As an aside, one of the first children’s books I wrote and published tackled the green-eyed monster. If you want a sweet read with your kids grab a copy on Amazon

Don’t write a book, build your book. That’s my advice. Whether its a story you are weaving or a non-fiction book you are conceiving, KISS your reader and kill your excuses – Keep It Short & Simple! Write your book already!

Many people have a book rumbling in their belly, but it feels more like indigestion than a baby that needs simple nourishment. I want to encourage you today that the idea you have in the womb of your imagination is not a monster to be feared, its an embryo that will grow naturally and find its way into the world. IF you tend it well.

Here’s how 5 simple steps …

1. Don’t try to write an epic

You are welcome to create the next epic fantasy. If that’s your thing, of course, I don’t want to dissuade you. For most of us, however, the idea of a 100,000 words is a horrifying mountain to climb.

The best way to scale the mountain is to chop it down to size.

A decent book or story can be as little as 10,000 words and still make a massive difference in people’s lives. Carve that 100,000 word tome into ten and create ten 10,000 word books instead.

People consume content differently nowadays. Short is the new long. Short books are easier to write, easier to read. They actually get finished!

Fiction writer, create a series of short stories.

Non-fiction writer, stick to one big idea and don’t stray from the path.

2. Your ONE Big Idea

A mistake many make is to try and stuff everything into one tome. Instead of concentrating their efforts to shoot one arrow and hit the mark, they shoot in all directions and try to tell everything they know in one book. This may be good if you want to create a market-leading never equaled classic, but let’s be honest these are few and far between.

I encourage writers, especially ones that are stalled or caught in the headlights wondering what to do, to choose ONE big idea.

Consider this idea like a cut diamond.

Each chapter you write will highlight one facet of your big idea. One diamond, many facets.

In fiction, this is a little different, but not completely. Fiction is story, and story has a purpose. The purpose is to carry the reader to a satisfying ending. Ask yourself, does this idea or plot point further the story, or is it irrelevant and not required. Every single point and facet of your writing should move the story forward.

For non-fiction, drill down into your chosen subject. Every chapter should highlight a specific aspect of your big idea, and at the same time clearly connect to the whole. Readers are turning the diamond in their hand with each chapter they read, and by the time they turn the last page, they should have a fuller appreciation of the beauty of the complete jewel idea that you shared.

The one big idea is the foundation upon which you will build.

3. Don’t write, build your book.

Sitting at the desk with a keyboard shaming you for the 20,000 words you haven’t written is not a great way to stay motivated. Instead of looking at your book as a mountain to scale, carve it down into small 500 word rocks, and knock those 500 words out each day. Some days maybe more, but always your 500.

In 30 days you’ll have 15,000 words. That’s a book.

Build your book out chapter by chapter, plot point by plot point. Don’t excuse yourself because you don’t feel inspired today.

I think novelist William Faulkner had it right when he said,

“I only write when inspiration strikes. Fortunately, it strikes at nine every morning.”

Place one brick on top of the other until the whole book is built.

4. Don’t edit while your write.

The editor in you is a critic not a creative. He or she will cramp your style and cripple your voice. Lock the temptation to edit as you write in a dark room somewhere until it’s time to cut their leash and let them loose on your completed first draft.

It’s difficult to allow the painterly wordsmith and the pinickity inner critic loose on the page at the same time. Let them take their allotted turn at the right time.

Don’t judge your writing, don’t second guess, don’t return and spin every sentence to perfection. Get real and raw and punch the keys with heart and soul. The Bible says that life issues from the heart, and you want your words to be filled with vitality.

Then bring your head to the game afterwards to shape that raw material into something more pithy.

5. When you finish, finish.

A thorough edit is important, absolutely. But left alone for too long the critic will whittle your book back to just a few perfect sentences. Do your edit in three phases.

High touch – Does it flow? Does the book cover the One Big Idea well, and leave the reader satisfied that the promise on the cover has been fulfilled? Is there any glaring omission that must be added, and are there any Frankenstein limbs that need to be lopped off (eg: flabby stuff that’s not needed!)

Mid touch – Move through the manuscript to tidy sentences, clear ideas so they absolutely sparkle, add finishing touches to the prose you have written

Low touch – Down in the thick grass of grammar and typos, tidy every detail on a very practical level to make the book the best it can be. Believe me, it will never be perfect and some mistakes will slip even the finest net, so be happy and content with good enough is good enough and getting better every day.

If necessary, get someone else to then do an edit for you. Get a qualified friend, or jump on Fiverr or Upwork and hire some talent to give your tidied manuscript a once-over.

Book writing is journey sharing. It is creative legacy building. Know that this book is not the last book you will write. That way you’ll see it as a stepping stone to the best you can bring and be actually willing to release it to the wild world so it can do some good!

Need Some Help Writing Your Book?

I have a couple of courses that will definitely help you if you are struggling to get your book written, one for non-fiction, the other covering building a book based on the famous Hero’s Journey framework.

The Non-Fiction Book Writing Roadmap
with David Lee Martin

The Hero’s Journey Bootcamp
with Bonnie Johnston & David Lee Martin

Recognizing the grace and goodness of God in your life is a key skill to learn. I say “skill” and “learn” because an attitude of gratitude is intentional, not accidental.

The world’s flow and fierce purpose are designed to make you feel inadequate. If you are not wearing the right perfume, living in the right place, driving the right car, you are somehow less than. And in the world’s way of working the “right” anything means the thing you don’t yet have!

The hamster wheel of want is never-ending and leads nowhere other than exhaustion.

Gratitude for what we already have, and who God has already made us, is a stepping-off point. I confess it is one that I miss way too often. Opportunities abound for grateful acceptance and thanksgiving, but instead of stopping to celebrate God’s faithful hand in the affairs of my life, I find myself rushing to the next thing way too quickly.

No breath taken, no faithfulness recognized, no luxuriating in the simple pleasures of present wonder – just an anxious chase after whatever comes next.

As a creative, I derive tremendous satisfaction from making things, bringing things into existence, but rarely hang around afterward to appreciate what I have made.

Even God paused His creative activity to call what he’d made, “Good, good, very, very good!”

As a recovering creata-holic I’m listing these five practices to help you punctuate your days and your projects with something that will crown them and crush the tendency to rush ahead of the Holy Ghost.

1. God is not in a hurry!

Too often we have the destination in view and fail to enjoy the journey. With every milestone victory, we rush on by, convinced that the next milestone is the one that will salve our need for significance.

With every few steps you take toward your goals, stop. Give thanks for the ground you have covered. Thank God for what’s to come of course, but don’t hand your emotions to an uncertain future that’s not guaranteed.

Give God room to fill this moment and make it monumental. A marathon is run in stages, and each mile should be recognized as a victory!

Learn to enjoy the journey and thank God for every step!

2. I am not in competition with anyone, even myself!

The combative and competitive nature of worldly pursuit for power and prestige, whatever form that takes, leads to pride. Proverbs 13:10 points out that “Only by pride cometh contention” and both sides of the pride coin are played in the competitive game. Either you’ll think you are better than others, or that they are far better than you. You’ll either think of yourself more highly than you ought and diminish the achievements of others, or you’ll go all grasshopper in your own sight and think your worth is worthless.

I’ve heard some cite the wisdom, “You are not in competition with anyone but yourself.” Dude, I don’t want to compete with myself, nor commend myself.

Paul said this:

“Do we begin again to commend ourselves? … we are not sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God” (2 Corinthians 3:1–5 KJV)

Your sufficiency is of God. The idea that there is a great self somewhere in the future that we are chasing robs you of thankful appreciation for who you are today. You are enough right now. You are not frantically trying to be someone that you are not already.

Bring your best self to the table today, and every day. That way your future self won’t always be goading you with a feeling of senseless inadequacy. In Christ you are complete, and today is a great day to thank God for His gracious workmanship!

Appreciate your present imperfect self and don’t postpone feeling worthy to some unknown future day of perfection.

3. I will notice the small things!

Life is not made up of mountain top moments, it is made up of tiny steps between the peaks. Learning to enjoy the beauty of the valleys is what makes everyday life a delight, not a drudgery.

The small beauties of everyday are the ingredients of a rich and full existence; the sip of coffee in the early hours, warm water rolling through your fingers and the silky smooth of fragrant soap lather when you wash, a cool breeze on an autumn morning, or the stolen unspoken glances of a loved one in the crowded busyness of life.

Notice and count the smallest benefits of your life. Stop despising the simple and the small, and the big will turn up more often than you expect because you’ll see that small things are actually massive!

4. Time is precious, especially this moment!

Chase money all you like, it will never buy you another minute on earth. Let all things find their proper place in your priority scale. Minutes and hours are more precious than the dollars you can earn if you spend too many of them in pursuit of things.

The most valuable things in life are not things at all.

In the words of Ryan Nicodemus and Joshua Fields Millburn, “Love People, Use Things, Because The Opposite Never Works.”

Appreciate the people in your life, and don’t trade time with them for things that can never make you whole or happy. Life is relationship. Relationship with God, with your loved ones, and with others who are taking their own pilgrim journey. A big part of a thankful life is taking time to encourage someone else along the road.

5. Live today like tomorrow is a myth!

My good friend, Vincent, was a very successful man. At over seventy he was stronger than most twenty-year-old men and training hard for world cycling championships. Larna and I worked with Vinny and his wife in church planting and evangelism for many years and no one would have expected he’d leave the planet in a sudden, tragic cycling accident. One day here, strong, passionate, ambitious, faithful, and faith-filled – the next, in eternity!

Plan and prepare with diligent wisdom, but don’t count on having a tomorrow to say the things you need to say, or do what you know you need to do. Prioritize the truly important things over those unimportant things that are merely urgent but transitory.

Invest vigorously in your love account, storing up riches that moth and rust cannot touch, not just your bank account where all of your hard work can easily sprout wings and fly away. The currency of heaven is not the same kind we trade here on earth, and the accolades of eternity will not be measured in monetary terms.

Let your daily actions reflect your heartfelt values. Don’t assume that you have tomorrow to make up for the truly important things you fail to prioritize today!

What are your thankful practices? What priorities do you choose to follow as you make your way between the peaks? How can we learn to appreciate the richness of our every day more fully?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments…